Aries, The Ram, is the first of the twelve zodiacal constellations,
and in Greek myth represents the animal whose fleece was sought by
Jason and the Argonauts. Legend has it that when King Athamus of
Boetia took a second wife, Ino, she was extremely jealous and
resentful of his existing children, especially his son, Phrixus.
She therefore deviously plotted the failure of the corn crop,
intercepted and bribed the messenger sent by her husband to
consult an oracle on the matter, and instructed him to say that
he had been told that Phrixus had to be sacrificed if the people
were to escape starvation. Despite pleadings from the boy's mother,
Nephele, King Athamus agreed to the sacrifice but, at the very last
minute, the boy and his sister, Helle, were saved by a magnificent
ram with a golden fleece, sent by Zeus in answer to their mother's
prayers. Unfortunately, as the ram crossed the narrow stretch of
water between Europe and Asia, Helle fell to her death (the straits
are still known as Hellespont) but Phrixus was carried safely to
the land of Colchis. He gave thanks for his deliverance by
sacrificing the ram to Zeus and giving its golden fleece to King
Aeetes. The king had the fleece placed in a sacred copse, guarded
by a fearsome dragon which never slept. Phrixus later married the
king's daughter and remained in exile for the rest of his life, but
the fleece was eventually stolen by Jason.